Burning Backstory
by ManictheEarthmaster
Summary: The story of a hedgehog's childhood, and dysfunctional family.
1. A Broken Family

Inside of a spacial-like atmosphere, with abstract visuals that were just beautiful to see, a king and his family came back to their royal wing that looked like a floating castle. The King's name was Rugal, and he was among the legendary elemental deities that controlled that universe high in the clouds, and his element was fire. Rugal had been a king for quite a long time, being the first actual king amongst other kings and queens that came after him, controlling other elements to bring neutrality and balance among everyone.

"My, Rugal, aren't our sons just precious?"

"Yes, my fair Adeline. They shall be the perfect princes under my wing."

This little talk was held between the King of Flame Rugal, and his wife Adeline, whom was holding a red baby hedgehog in her arms that was sleeping peacefully. Adeline sighed before sitting down on a royal chair, adjusting the baby hedgehog's little yellow bangs.

"Ever think about staying here longer with me to raise your kids with me, Rugal? I'd enjoy that very much."  
"Too busy. I'm here right now, aren't I?"

"Well, yes, but I wouldn't really want to raise these boys by myself… Having their father around would be just delightful, Rugal."

"Oh, I'll be here, no worries. You can take great care of them yourself!"

The king gave his wife a quick kiss on her muzzle before hearing some light footsteps come up from behind him.

"D-Dad!" A small, bright yellow hedgehog said in a childish voice.

"Yes, Sun?" The king turned around and saw his first child looking up at him innocently with his red eyes.

"Can I pwease stay with mommy and you?" He asked with his lip trembling a little, seemingly sad over him leaving again.

"But of course!" He patted the young hedgehog's head.

"Although training you will have to take a long time, so unfortunately we'll have to be away from mommy for a little while…"

"O-okay…"

Adeline raised a brow at him as he said that to her son, but tried to ignore it as he paid her mind back onto the baby hedgehog they called Pyre.

"How long is this 'training' of yours going to take, anyways? I would not like to have our two boys not grow up with each other…"

"Well, unfortunately, I already have this all planned out, so I don't think that can happen…"

The little, yellow hedgehog looked at the both of them as they had their banter, and slowly walked over to where his mother was, hugging her leg as he looked back at his father. Adeline looked down at him and pinched his little cheek, a smile finally coming onto her face.

"I just think us all staying together would be the best choice of us as a family. I could always go with you… and our little Pyre could too."

"Woman, as reasonable as that sounds, it just can't be done. You two would just hold us back, realistically."

"Hold you back? But we're supposed to be a family, both of us taking care of children like responsible parents, and working together."  
"Yes, working together. Myself and Sun are most definitely going to be working together, so there you go."

"But I meant-"  
"Come along, Sun! We're almost too late. Say goodbye to your mother."

He cut her off as he got up and grabbed Sun by his little arm, and left the room with him, leaving Adeline understandably irked at him. She rolled her eyes and heard some noises in her arms, causing her to look down and saw the red hedgehog awake and smiling, his big yellow eyes gazing up at her. She sighed and smiled down at him.

"Ugh. Your father is so hard to deal with at times…"


	2. Ultimatum

"That obstacle of a woman thinks she can hold us back? Pshha, how ridiculous of her to think of something of that sort."

The king muttered to himself as he held his left hand out which had some red fire on his palm. The young boy hedgehog just looked up at him, opening his mouth a little at the fire he saw, mesmerized by it.

"Dad… C-can I do that?!"

"Of course you can, boy. That's why we're out here to get you to start mastering your hidden power, and impress me."

The small hedgehog hopped up and down in excitement a little before speaking.

"How do I do it?!"

"Well first, you'll need to get angry in some sort of way, and I'll see if I can figure out a way…"

Sun looked at him curiously and confused, unsure of what he meant, but decided to go along with it.

"O-Okay…"

Not too long after, Rugal summoned a small, flaming golem-type creature that came up from the ground, staring at Sun with its empty eyes, causing Sun to back up a little in fear of what that was.

"See this creature? It's one of my 'pets' I can summon at will, and you will fight against it right now, Sun. Now show me how ruthless you are, my child!"

"Wh-what?!"

The creature suddenly charged over toward the kid hedgehog, whom obviously wasn't ready, and was knocked down hard to the floor, getting up on his knees to try and crawl away from it.

"Come on, Sun! Don't let that mindless neanderthal overpower you! Destroy it, already!"

Sun was too busy getting beaten up by this creature to hear his father, and tried to fight back with little punches and kicks, but to no avail from nearly getting killed by this thing from its flaming rock-hard fists colliding with the boy's ribs. Rugal eventually caused the creature to freeze, and disappear, as Sun laid on the ground, writhing in pain.

"You disappoint me, but this is your first time out fighting something, so perhaps I'll let that slide. But next time, I want to see more out of you, if you're going to be my successor."

He grabbed his now sobbing son up by his quills, and glared at him, shaking his head as he walked over to their little royal section of this place reserved for a king, looking to train his son more often from here on out, regardless of what anyone says or objects to.

As they went to bed, Rugal was suddenly interrupted…

"RUGAL. REPORT TO MY DEITY ORDER IMMEDIATELY."

A voice erupted from above, a voice that only Rugal could hear as he rolled his eyes, while some white aura surrounded his body, warping him to the so-called 'Diety Order'. Upon being sent to this celestial place within the clouds, Rugal looked around, not seeing anyone until this tall, bright figure descended down on the grey floating platform with the king.

"What is it now, Zenetrius?"

"Rugal. I have concern over you as representative of the flame element of this world. I fear that you may become power hungry and forget about your basic responsibilities. I'm aware that I chose you a long time ago, but you are changing for the worse as time goes on."

"And your point is?"

"My point is that I foresee you turning your back upon your companions, and becoming a vile, corrupt being, disrupting the balance of our elements, which would not only cause problems here, but greater ones down there at the planet we control."

As the almighty figure spoke, 3 translucent versions of himself showed up around Rugal, surround in him as they all talked at the same time, saying the same thing as some sort of emphasis.

"And that is not preferable in the slightest. So I ask of you now to become more responsible, take care of your family properly, and help us maintain balance within our universe. Do I have your word?"

"You'll have my word once you tell me what the ultimatum of all this is, oh mighty one."

The platform they were standing on shook a bit, as Rugal's response was obviously the negative one, causing Zenetrius and his illusions to come closer to him, his voice booming in volume. "Beware of your tone. If I do not have your word, then not only will chaos erupt upon a multitude of areas, but I will strip you of your title as King of Flame, and in turn you will be exiled from the Diety Order for all eternity. Now do I have your word, King?"

Rugal looked up at the bright being quizzically, not liking the decision he had to make, as he didn't like having to follow orders, but wanted to keep his title of "King" with him.

"...You have my word."  
"Excellent."

Zenetrius' translucent clones of himself soon dissipated into nothing as the real one extended his open hand out, aimed at Rugal, causing him to be surrounded by the white aura once again, and warped back to where he was previously.

The next day within this realm, Sun woke up in his little bed, still bruised and scarred from the 'training' he went through yesterday, and yawned as he sat up slowly, wincing a bit. His small ears perked when he heard some yelling in some rooms down.

"Woman, please. Cease your yelling and understa-"

"You brought our son home bruised! I thought I told you to have all of us go with you two, and maybe he wouldn't be so hurt!"

"The boy needs to learn how to fight if he wants to be my prince."

"Well, maybe he just doesn't want to be a prince! I wouldn't mind that…"

While nearly interrupting her, the king backhanded her across her face, just loathing at what she said about their son.

"Any son of mine will become my prince and exude my image of further generations to the fullest! I will not have anyone tell me otherwise… not even you, Adeline."

The king clenched his white fists, scowling down at his wife, whom tried to hold back her tears from coming out, deciding not to say anything else to him as she stormed off to Sun and Pyre's bedroom. Anywhere where Rugal wasn't around at the moment.

With a slam of the door later, Adeline immediately checked on Sun, who was already sitting up and hugged him tightly. Sniffling to try and not sob, she stroked the young hedgehog's quills tenderly, as Sun hugged her back, hiding his face on her.

"How could he be so reckless…" The female hedgehog muttered to herself, as Sun overheard her and looked up at her.  
"M-mom? What's 'reckless'?"

Adeline narrowed her eyes at the question, then smiled softly at her yellow son, looking down at his bruised, little face.

"Don't worry about what that means, Sun. All that matters is that you're here with me, and little Pyre is sound asleep in his crib."

She kissed at his forehead before letting go of him with a small giggle, standing up and looking inside the crib that was beside Sun's bed, and reached her hand inside to stroke the baby hedgehog's unique quills, as he was still in a deep sleep.

"I can't have Pyre end up like his brother, from the hands of Rugal… No, I can't let that happen to him."


	3. A Promise is A Promise

In what seemed to be a park of some sort, Adeline sat down on a bench with her children close to her, Sun sitting down next to her with a carton of apple juice in his hand, and Pyre in a stroller that Adeline rocked back in fourth.

"Mommy, can you use fire like daddy?"

"Of course I can, though I choose not to use it all the time…"

"Oh really? Can you teach me?! Pleeeeease?"

The small, yellow hedgehog hopped onto her lap and clasped his hands together, looking up at her in an attempt to beg, which only made Adeling smile and laugh, petting his head.

"Yes, Sun, only because you're so cute.~"

She planted a kiss on his head as he chuckled, giving her a tight hug, with Adeline still having mixed feelings about her husband's actions, and wondering where he was.

"Those children of mine shall of course become _my_ successors in due time, and nothing other than that. Regardless of what _anyone_ else says or thinks."

Rugal thought to himself, gazing at the celestial surroundings that encompassed him as he stood on one of the many balconies of this castle. He seemed to be pondering how to become a higher rank than a king within this place, as all he wanted was more and more power, and in order to get that power, his superior needed to be gone. Just a few moments later, that same white aura emanated from Rugal, until he unwillingly transported to the celestial domain of Zenetrius once again.

"You know why you're here, Rugal."

"_Sure_, let's say that I do. I don't even have a reason to be up he-"  
"You went against everything I informed you of not doing, and showed me exactly why you are not worthy of being a king under my guidance."

Zenetrius interrupted with his physical form showing up in front of Rugal, towering over him as he looked down at the fire king with his glowing blue eyes.

"...Regardless of what you say, I am still a ki-"  
"No you're not. You went against my rule, you gave me your word the last time we spoke, but you broke that promise, and I did tell you what would happen if you broke our agreement. Now, as deity, I hereby-"

"Oh, shut up, already."

Rugal raised his voice at his superior, obviously not liking what he was hearing, and clenched his fists as he crossed his arms and continued.

"You don't have to be a genius to realize that I do not enjoy taking orders from anyone. No, I prefer being the one giving the orders, being in an authoritative role, and anyone that thinks otherwise is a fool. Therefore you, Zenetrius, are a fool…"

Rugal took a step back and opened his right palm, which had some green flame on it, and kept intensely glaring at the white being, with cruel intentions on his mind.

"...and fools must be vanquished."

"Rugal, you are obviously out of line, and you do not have the authority to speak to me in such a tone. Agree to drop your title of 'King', and leave immediately before you do something you'll regret for the rest of your life."

Zenetrius stood stoically as he watched Rugal bring out the fire in both of his hands, and simply ignored the fact that Rugal was very hostile, by walking up to him with his hand out, giving him one last chance to comply.

"For the last time, no. I won't let you just relieve me of my royalty, and terminate the future legacies of my boys, of whom will be princes. I'm going to keep my title as King, regardless of what you say, even if I have to end _you_ in order to keep-."

The red hedgehog growled under his breath, walking up closer to the tall being, then suddenly backed away once again, as his green fire went out and flashed a false smile up at the deity.

"Actually, never mind that. I was wrong to try and stand up against a celestial being such as yourself, since it's just pretty much suicide, a battle I can't win…"

Zenetrius extended out both of his arms to place his palms in front of Rugal's face, as some blue, unknown energy started to slowly come out of the fire king's body.

"Obvious. Now do not move as I alleviate you of all of your royalty, and flame."

As Zenetrius did this ritual, Rugal had suddenly pulled out this curved blade from his pocket, and quickly stabbed the deity in his side, instantly causing him to bleed out. Zenetrius didn't stop the ritual, as that would only cause problems and unrest within the rest of the realm, and Rugal took advantage of this, by repeatedly impaling him on his body, and finished it with a stab to the forehead, with a twist as well, which made the deity's arms go down to his sides.

"Obvious, you say? How ridiculous!"

Rugal taunted as he took out the blade before shoving Zenetrius down to the stone ground, as he lied there motionless for a while, until he started floating into the air, and instantly got back to his feet, scowling at Rugal with his intensified glowing eyes.

"You've made your decision, and in trying to kill me, I must rid this realm of your existence altogether."

Zenetrius raised his arms up into the air, as a long, translucent sword appeared in his right hand, and a large white shield materialized onto his left arm, getting into his 'ready' stance.

"Resurrect all you want, but I'll put you down each time like the dog you are."

Rugal put away his knife, and summoned his flaming sledgehammer into his left hand, raising it over his head before slamming it onto the stone platform both of them were on. The surroundings soon became cloudier and grayer than they were already, as this was Zenetrius' realm, the weather corresponding with his actions.

Rugal wasted no more time in charging at Zenetrius, and swung his hammer at him, with the deity blocking the hit with his shield, which suffered a dent from the collision. The deity responded with a powerful shield bash, that knocked the king onto his back on the ground, and raised his sword up, before bringing it down towards his body. Rugal luckily blocked it by moving the handle part of his hammer in front of the sword, and blew some blue flame in the face of Zenetrius, making him take a few steps back to cover his eyes.

"How are you a thing of such power if you can't even fight?"

Rugal taunted as he got back up and shot out two streams of green fire from his hands onto Zenetrius, as if they were flamethrowers, while the deity placed his shield in front of him to try and not take too much critical damage.

As Rugal was controlling the fight, the surroundings became more and more chaotic, stormclouds moving in as it began to rain hard, although the rain had little to no effect on the king's fire. Zenetrius's shield soon became too burnt and fragile taking in all that flame, and tossed it aside as he took the flame point-blank, stepping forward with his sword and impaling the king in his chest, the sword going all the way through him.

Rugal groaned from the impact, and stepped back, as Zenetrius lifted the king up to the air with the power of wind, and tossed him across the stage onto a wall, hitting it back first. While the deity was trying to heal the burns he suffered, Rugal painfully took out the translucent sword from his chest, and planned to use it against Zenetrius, as he walked back over to the white being. As he turned around, Zenetrius saw Rugal with his sword in his hand, and realized how much of a hopeless situation he was in without his sword, and with it in the hands of that power-hungry hedgehog.

"Looks like I've got the power now…"

Rugal muttered as he made a slicing motion at Zenetrius, whom brought up his shield again, but it broke once the sacred sword made contact with it, making him defenseless, but still kept fighting for his realm. The red hedgehog wasted no time in slashing at the deity, slicing him downward which cut him in half, effectively killing him with his own sword.

"Nothing but a fool."

The storm soon cleared up from the aftermath of the battle, as what remained of Zenetrius glowed a bright gold, before disappearing with a loud, unintelligible yell from above, with the shield as well as the sword that was in Rugal's hand vanishing as well.

The moment of quietness soon turned back into chaos again, as extremely intense storms erupted from out of nowhere, with the platform that Rugal was standing on suddenly started to break off, with the parts falling into the empty abyss below. He started to panic, as he didn't know where to go, until a black portal appeared behind him from out of nowhere, which would bring him back to where his family was. As the area rapidly deteriorated within itself, without a keeper to look after it, Rugal quickly stepped into the portal, which saved his own power-hungry life.


End file.
